Happy Halloween!

This will be our first official trick or treat day, hopefully it goes well tonight. J is dressing up like a cat, hopefully the rain will hold off, otherwise we will have one soaking wet cat in our house!

Update on J2

Poor little guy, he had to go back, the ligament did not pop back in on it's own. The good news though, is that after the Doctor tried for the third time (yes, three times just like the night before, but a different Doctor) he came back and asked to try one last time (like they were going to say no!). This time he twisted J2's arm just slightly while pulling the elbow and it popped back in. J2 was back to his old self in five minutes flat. It was like nothing had happened for him. Mom and Dad picked him up a new garbage truck for being such a trooper and we are going to go over and see him later this morning.

On another note, we had huge wind gusts yesterday. It was so strong some corner shelves in J's room were knocked to the floor. Nothing broke, but we are thinking of nailing them in place better, just in case we have another windy day like we had yesterday!

SNOW and other tidbits

The sun was shortlived... There is now a small sprinkling of snow on our lawn. It is wet and sloppy, thank goodness. Wet and sloppy usually means it won't last long. Thankfully we geared up J on Friday with his new MEC snowsuit. With talk of a cold and snowy winter this year, we went big for the warmth.

Nephew J2 was over last night, and yet again we were together when an incident occured that lead him to Emerg. None of us know exactly what happened, he was all alone in the hallway and went running to Dad to say his arm hurt. He did his usual screaming that we all thought was a bunch of nothing, until it continued for 15 minutes straight. He kept grabbing his arm, scratching his elbow, then his wrist. He started falling asleep (it was bedtime) but, would wake up crying again. We all assessed the situation, put his sister to bed in the playpen and off they went to CHEO. Four hours later they returned with a diagnosis of a dislocated ligament in his elbow. Unfortunately the doctor could not relocate it and they may have to return today if it doesn't reset itself. There is nothing they can do but wait and hope it snaps back into place. The Doctor did say that is usually occurs when the arm is pulled on, but he was by himself in the hallway so we aren't sure at all if he hit his arm on the wall or what. Hopefully today all is well and there will be no return to the hospital.

We are more than halfway through our visit with Opa, lots of fun is being had, rest for me and memories made.

SUN

The sun is shining!!! It feels like it has been months since I have seen it. It is so bright I need my sunglasses inside!

And speaking of sunny places, Hubby just found out he is going to a meeting in Portugal! A meeting, not ten meetings, a meeting. His boss told him to bring me and take a week to enjoy it! I wish. We just did California and I just don't think it will work out. I will be sooooo jealous though for the three days he is gone.

If Only

We could all live to be 104 years old!!! My birthday made me think of our family friend, Mrs. Morphet. I thought I had posted about her after our trip to The Beach in September, but I did not.



Mrs. Morphet celebrated her 104th birthday this past August and we brought her to our family favorite restaurant (and one of hers) Nicola's Pizza. Where the owners, Joan and Nick know Mrs. Morphet well, and have graciously let us take over part of there always busy, half hour turn over restaurant not only for her 104th, but 100th as well. There is even a photo on the wall from the 100th birthday! The waitresses looked at us sadly and said, "Guess we probobly won't see you next year for the birthday" to which we replied, "Don't bet on it!".

Mrs. Morphet is sharp as a whip, remembers everything!!!! The only problem is this past year her sight and hearing has dropped off a bit. She sees shapes and shadows and hears when you speak slow and clear or with My Aunt's megaphone (too hilarious, just like an old movie). Her claim to living a long and prosperous life is that she had no children! Her and her husband married late in life and he died quite early on, leaving them with no kids. While she was always happy with that, I secretly think she missed out, which is why she adopted my Aunt and Uncle.

They are next door neighbours and truthfully, Mrs. Morphet resembles my Grandma, who passed away in 1977. My Aunt and Uncle take care of her every day and moved her in last year after she went into a home who refused to let her eat her pecan pie when she didn't finish her meat. Who on earth deniens a 103 year old her pecan pie????? Let her eat whatever she wants for crying out loud.

If only, we could all be as healthy as she has been and live to see 104 or an age similar, and enjoy it as much as she has.

36 Officially!!!

I am finally officially 36!!

Yesterday was my birthday, a great day was had by me and my family. I got to go to skating with J and watch him skate. Then, drop him at my Sister's while I went for a much needed hour long massage. Back to my place to wait for the family for dinner. We ordered in Chinese, ate too much, drank a bit too much, ate some more... cake... chocolate banana cake, so yummy!!! And headed off to bed.

It was truly a great day. I heard from a few friends from the past and that always makes it fun to be remembered on your birthday!

Happy Birthday to me. May this next year be full of all thinkgs exciting and fun.

NaNoWriMo

Should I do it?? Can I do it???

Something fun to ponder.

The colours of my world

Are finally on my walls!!!! After a marathon painting weekend, for Hubby that i,s and a half marathon for me. We are now staring at Platinum and Toasted Wheat. Platinum is a warm beige that we picked out of our couch. And Toasted Wheat is darker and contrasts the Platinum. As I sit here and type I feel comfy and warm just from the walls, and this is only the family room.

The living room is straight Platinum that will be accented by the Vintage Claret that is still in the can waiting to adorn the dining room. I am taking a chance at painting all four walls red, but I think it will be gorgeous when it is finished. Our furniture is very monotone, being beige and black toile. There are red accent pillows, so I pulled the vintage Claret from there and bought a candle for the dining table with the same colour.

The kitchen is going to be Manchester. It is a grey/green that we had in our old house. I just loved it so much, I begged Hubby to use it again. I think it will pull some colour out of our black faux marble print countertops and make our backsplash perk up a little bit.

I have been beggin Hubby to paint since before we moved in here, and I am so thankful he finally agreed. He is so happy with the transformation of the house and I finally feel like it is truly our home now, no more nasty builders paint and scratched up walls that couldn't be wiped or touched up.

Hopefully a few more colours for upstairs and we will be rolling along...

Sleepy Head

To continue with Ann's sleep book blog tour I really wanted to post a photo of J sleeping. The one I wanted cannot be found (searching many, many discs, I can't seem to pinpoint the original one I wanted. With my luck I will find it tomorrow) but, this one will do just the same. Every time I look at J sleeping, I just want to cuddle and cozy up with him. I also want to kiss him and fall asleep myself.

Although J did not technically sleep through the night until he was a year and a half old and we had moved to a new house (hence, no taxi driving neighbours to wake him up all night long), he was all in all not a bad sleeper. Or maybe I should be more specific, he slept and I accepted my fate that I was not going to have a lot of sleep for a while. This acceptance of mine made all the difference in the world. I don't know if I will ever get to have another baby and go through this all again, so I wanted to cherish and relish every moment possible. Whether it was a sleepless night or a no napping day. In the grand scheme of things it was really such a short amount of time that now that I do get eight hours of sleep a night it seems like such a long time ago really.

I didn't let it bother me when he woke up every two hours, I tried hard to accept my fate of waking up at 5am every day, even when I did have to go into work. Our nap schedule was such that he slept when he was tired and woke when he wasn't. Some days were hard when I was trying to get work done, but all in all, I loved it. I still love that J will fall asleep when he has just plain had enough, and I love that when he gets up at 5am, he crawls in between Hubby and I and goes back to sleep for another hour. I love that he snuggles his head under my chin and puts his cold feet on my legs to warm up. I love every little thing about him sleep or not.

One day, in the not so distant future, he will be kicking me out of his room when I come in to wake him up. I accepted the baby I was given and loved every minute of being a new Mom (ok, almost every minute, if Ann could write a book on how to get back into pre-preggo shape, now that is what I needed). And if I never get the chance again to be a new Mom, I have the best memories of nights spent nursing him, cuddling with him on his bed, watching him sleep in his crib, all those memories are priceless and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Oh yes, and if I had had Ann's Sleep book when I was a new Mom, I wouldn't have felt so terrible that my child woke up every two hours. I started telling people who asked that he did indeed sleep through the night, cause they all had an opinion of what I was doing wrong. Little did they know that I was doing nothing wrong at all. That is just the way he slept.

Dear Mrs. Armstrong

For my four short years at Confederation High School, formerly of Nepean. You pushed me to run. Running, you said, is good for you, you will love it. Every year you made us run six laps around the football field. We had to do this run to pass our class. Every year I strotted along, not really caring all that much about the 15 or 20 minutes it took me to run.

In my last year, you gave me a challenge. You told me I should be able to run my six laps in 9 minutes or less. HA! You encouraged me with an "A" if I could do it. So, with that in mind, I started training. The first training I had ever done, running laps around my neighbourhood. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a total sloth, I spent years in dance classes, was a cheerleader, played soccer, touch football, volleyball (occaisionally) and basketball, if I felt like it. I was just never a runner. So, I set out to prove Mrs. Armstrong right. And right she was. With a bit of extra training I was able to run it in just under 9 minutes. It was a hot June day, scorching acctually, and I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. But, I did it.

Fast forward a couple of years. I stopped all form of true excercise, minus riding my motorcycle, so I set out to jog again. I kept that up for about a year and that was it. I took up walking, working and dancing at clubs. I then became a waitress and worked on my feet and therefore did not need to excercise for a good 7 or 8 years. It. Was. Great.

Now that we have a treadmill, and I am addicted to using it every single day, I have started running a bit. First it was run for a minute, then two, three, four... now, I can run the entire 30 minutes or 3.5kms. Hubby ran his half marathon and is going for the full in the spring. How can I not run with him? We actually went for a run together on Sunday. A perfect fall day for running, J in the stroller.

So, Mrs. Armstrong, if you are out there, thank you and sorry for being such a pain in the butt all those 20 years ago. If only I had appreciated the joy of running that you tried to show me oh so long ago.

Sincerely,
BeachMama

p.s. Mr. Lamb from grades 5 and 6. If you are out there, sorry. You tried so hard to keep us all in shape making us run after first recess every day, even when the snow was knee deep. You wondered why I didn't run as fast as my Sister. The only reason was, I wasn't her. If only there were more teachers today like you and Mrs. Armstrong, I wouldn't be so worried about J starting school next year and not gettting excercise.

It has arrived!! (Originally posted, March 31, 2006)

In honour of Ann's Sleep Book Blog Tour, I wanted to share the post I wrote back in March about receiving her book. I participated on the panel for this book, hoping to share some of what I learned or went through as a new Mom. Even today, more than three years later, I am still learning about sleep. Although we are now getting a full eight hours a night, you just never know when you are going to hear the patter of little feet running into your room in the middle of the night.

After reading "Sleep Solutions", I lent it to my younger Sister when her newest baby arrived. She really struggled with her first and couldn't understand why I was able to function and she was not. I kept telling her that she had to accept that babies wake up, this she could not do. She figured that she could train her baby to do which ever sleep pattern she wanted. Until she read Ann's book. She finally realized that not every baby is the same. There is no one solution out there and you have to kind of figure out which one works best for your child. When she finished Ann's book, she had a new peace about her and was able to accept that she wasn't going to get eight hours of sleep every single night. She has made it through the last seven months so much better than she did the first time around and she tells everyone that she has Ann to thank for that.

Original post.

The newest addition in "The Mother of All" series! I should start by saying how I was first introduced to Ann Douglas. We are going back quite a few years now, lets say... six or maybe almost seven. Hubby and I had finally come to the time when we were going to get pregnant. We had a plan. We would stop birth control and a few months later we would be pregnant.

We were picking up a few things at Costco and I was browsing the books, like I love to do. And to my surprise there was a pile of books called "The Mother of all Pregnancy Book". The first thing that caught my eye, other than the word "pregnacy" was the Canadian Flag. I was sick of flipping through books on how to get pregnant and have all sorts of American stats thrown at me. Not that I don't love Americans, I do, they are family. But, our medical system is somewhat different, so not all the information applies to all of us. I decide to pick up the book. I hid it in my nightside table, away from parents or step-children, and started to read it.

I loved the way the words just flowed. Ann spoke to me like I was a friend chatting it up over coffee. Trying to get pregnant is so easy for some, but for others not so good. I read only to the point where you actually get pregnant, promising myself that I would read the rest when I was pregnant. Months go by and nothing happens, we start going to see specialists and our route of infertility begins. I turned back to Ann's book on a daily, regular basis. The first time I read the book, I skimmed over the troubleshooting area. Not thinking that we would be having any problems. But, once problems were diagnosed, Ann was able to explain to me exactly what was wrong in plain english that I could understand through my anger and tears.

Fast forward. We go through our ivf and get the positive beta that tells us indeed that we are pregnant. The first thing I did, other than call Hubby and a few girlfriends was pull out Ann's book and read the rest. I referred to it throughout my pregnancy. I loved it so much that I started purchasing it for friends who were talking about getting pregnant. And I will say, thankfully, that all followed my lead and read the first half first, then waited, and within three months all were pregnant. I also make sure to throw in "The Mother of all Babies Book" for their showers.

Long before, I had ever heard of Blogging, I felt like I knew Ann so well. She was with me for so long trying to get pregnant. Flipping through pages all the time, made me feel like she was right there with me, holding my hand. Then, a girlfriend of mine started up this blogging thing and introduced me to Ann's Blog. I have now met Ann a few times and chatted through email, blogging and on the phone. Ann is one remarkable woman and I feel honoured that I was able to contribute some of my thoughts on sleep ,or lack there of, for her newest addition "Sleep Solutions for your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry approach for Each Age and Stage". I haven't finished it yet, I was too busy taking a nap, but know that it is full of real life wisdom and suggestions. And I can't wait to read the Toddler section, in hopes that we can reset the clocks here.

Thank you Ann, for being so good at what you do. For having the gift to put words together so well. And for sharing in our lives as we all learn to take on the role of parents.

Thank You.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

A Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. We had such a wonderful weekend, I hardly know where to begin.

First we had the wedding. The one that I wore the little black dress to. It was beautiful. This couple has been together for about 15 years. A friend of Hubby's who was so against getting married 8 years ago when we got married that he didn't attend our wedding. He had had a really bad marriage experience and didn't want to go through that again. This summer he came around again and decided to marry his longtime girlfriend. He and his new wife are older than hubby and I so it was a quiet afair with mostly immediate family and a few friends. The ceremony was held at dusk in the gardens of the Hilton Hotel (hence the little black dress). The evening was warm and clear and couldn't be more perfect had they asked the weatherman himself. After the ceremony, which was full of love, jokes and a few tears, there was a cocktail recepetion complete with mock gaming tables (we were beside the casino) and all had lots of fun.

Next there was the half-marathon that Hubby was running on Sunday morning. Hubby has been training for five months for this half-marathon and almost didn't make it due to aknee injury. Another gorgeous day was waiting for us and I was just sorry that I didn't know there was a short 1km "tot trot" for kids like J. If I had known I would have registered him. I kept telling him, next year we will run. I also could have run a 5k with him in the stroller. The original race Hubby was going to sign up for didn't allow strollers, but this one did. I would have run it if I had known.

I did feel terrible not running in one of the events, but J and I had a great time walking around the grounds of the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum. This museum is a gem hiding away in the country. If only I had known it exsisted this past summer, I would have taken J many times over. All of the buildings were closed for race day, but you could look inside them and the fire station was open for a few minutes. Just long enough to take a look at the old fire engine. There were chickens and pigs and ... turkeys! Yes, J was laughing at the turkeys as they were 'gobble, gobbling'. I wondered at dinnertime if he put the two together as the same.

Hubby finished his race in 2 hours and 5 minutes and was very pleased with his results. He now has a nasty cold, and has been complaining ever since he finished the 21km run. Hopefully his next run he won't have the beginnings of a cold and we can see what was real affects and what was cold related.

A few hours after the run we headed to our Thanksgiving dinner at my parents. I had an hour to whip up two pies (pumpkin and apple) and we headed over for the feast. With Hubby exhausted and my Dad dead on his feet from working we prompted the two of them to take a catnap before my Sister arrived with her bunch. They were running late, so Mom and I had time to sit back and chat while munching hors d'oeuvres. Once everyone was rested and at the table, we had a great dinner. One filled with laughter and lots of food, my Mom still cooks for the whole family because you just never know if one of them will show up. We called the Sister's far away and chatted over dessert. All in all the only thing we could have asked for more is that the other two Sister's and their families were there with us.

Fast forward to Tuesday. After a weekend of sun, fresh air, beautiful outdoors, we had a morning of rain. I read about a Parent and Tot skate program so I thought I would try to register J and I. I didn't want to tell him, just in case there was no room left in the class, we had missed the first two. Well, there was room. And the excitement for J of putting on his hockey skates and going on the ice was just too much. He was sooooooo excited. He could stand in his skates on the mat so he figured he was going to be able to skate on the ice. Big surprise to him! I was exhausted within the first 10 minutes. His feet were flailing and he just couldn't keep those suckers still. By the end of the lesson he was able to stand all alone on the ice and fall down like a goalie. Yes, that means fall down on purpose. I had the teacher explain that you need to skate first before you can be a goalie. Let's hope that all this talk will be productive enough for our next class. I haven't quite recovered from the first one.

Today is Opa day. Opa has arrived from Vancouver to take J to the pumpkin patch. If only this was true. Opa is on his way to Europe and is stopping in for a few days before he goes. Then he will return and spend a week and a half with us after his trip.

I appologize for my lack of posting lately, but it really has just been too busy. Just wait until the snow settles in, I will be posting two or three times a day ;).

The Perfect Black Dress

How is it that all things perfect, just have to be out of range? The price range that is?

Hubby and I are going to a wedding this Saturday and I needed a new dress. Yes, folks I NEED a new dress. I do have a few summer ones that fit well, but fall/winter, I have none. All my stand bys were great pulling on, until they reached my chest area. Then, yikes, no zipping up over those suckers. It would seem as though all my struggles this past year has led these puppies to gain an extra size. While most women pay for them I would like a full refund. So, off I went shopping.

I found two dresses. One at "Tristan" and one at "Femme Carriere". Although I liked both alot there were two distict differences. The one at Tristan was a V-neck and $65. The one at Femme was a Crew type neck and $295. Of course I bough the one from Tristan.

A nice slimming V neck that hangs to just at the knee. I have the option of buying a jacket to go with it, but since it is not necessary I will hold off. If I were still working in an office I would not have hessitated as it is the perfect black suit with the jacket. That would have brought the total to $175.

The one from Femme was cut at the neck with a few gathers, thus making my already large chest look larger, but in a pretty kind of way. The dress slimmed to the waist, with a darling belt with a bow. And it felt soooooo goooooood. It was THE perfect black dress.

The difference in quality did not go unnoticed. The Femme dress hung perfectly without showing a panty line or a bra line, and it hugged my curves, not buckling in the back at all. I felt like I could be Audrey Hepburn. The Tristan dress, although lined, buckles a bit and I had to pick up some no-see-um underwear, bringing the total of the dress to $120.00, but I can wear the underwear all year round. I don't quite feel like Audrey Hepburn, but I do feel like BeachMama all dressed up. So, BeachMama I will be.

But, I really wanted the other dress. Perhaps in another few years when my days of working at home are done, I will buy that perfect dress. For now, I am happy with the other one and I hope that I will look as good as I feel in it.

He Did It!

And so well.

Our first day of Duffer Doo was the biggest breeze so far. J told me before we even got there that I was not to stay with him. I agreed, of course, and told him he would go with his teachers and do fun things for a while and I would be there when class was over.

We arrived at the Community Centre and J was gone. Taking Miss Paula's hand and walking away from me. Full of smiles and wonderment. He did come back to the door twice, but Miss Paula took him back in and distracted him with games and toys.

I did not cry. I am so proud of J and myself. Both of us acted like we should.

Now, I do have to admit that I never left the Community Centre. It wasn't my fault. J2 would not go in. My poor Sister. He went last week for half the class, but this week he wouldn't go. Then, he made it in only to turn around and start shaking when they went into a different room for circle time. That was it, he was done. My Sister went to change Baby A, so I gave it a go. I had him in the door, then a girl came and stood looking at him, he was done now for sure.

J was devistated that his cousin didn't make it back into class. He was quite worried about him. At the end when they are in their last circle time, the doors are opened and the kids names are called according to their parents and as I was right there J came out first. Only, he didn't want to leave. I was so proud of him for taking his mat back and saying good-bye to his teachers.

My little boy made it through his first day of school. And so many more to go.

Another First

Today is the day. J's first day of Duffer Doo. Duffer Doo is a preschool program run by the City. My neice went and loved it. J2 had the first day last week when we were in California, and even he didn't cry.

So, "today is the day, we are off to great places, so get on your way" Dr. Seuss.

I am nervous as a wreck. I have never left J with anybody, but my immediate family and here I go entrusting him to someone I don't know. I have met both teachers, it is only two hours, but my belly is in a knot.

J seems quite ok with it. He knows that I won't be staying, although I will probobly be in the lobby today to keep my Sister company or at the very least on a bench in the park. I will gradually work my way home, which is only around the corner. In fact I can see the building from my back windows.

ACK! Two hours without J, what on earth am I going to do??? I can do it, millions of Mom's out there drop their kids off every day, I can do it.

Will let you know later how it all went.

The Tale in Words

Can you tell I love California? Can you tell it was the best trip in the world? Can you tell I want to move my entire family to San Diego? Yes, Yes and Yes. Overall, best trip ever.

The only real downside, besides leaving, were the flights. I have travelled many times and this was the first time I really wished we had flown on a Canadian airline. I really appreciate Canadian travel now, much more than I ever did before. First there was the "no liquids on board" which meant with our delay out of Ottawa, that J had not had a drink for 4 hours. He was begging the stewardess for juice. By the time we headed home, we were allowed to purchase liquids on the other side of security, like we could have done if we were travelling domestic. Then, there was the "First Class" issue. Since we don't have "First Class" anymore in Canada, it was strange to watch these people turn their noses down at us when we were getting ready to preboard with a toddler. I was used to this preboarding we have here in Canada, but no. There is no preboarding in the US, just First class and the rest of us. Then there was the fact that the three of us weren't together. J and I were, but Hubby was rows behind us. We were able to ask people to move for us, but the lady at the desk who asked Hubby to move for another couple wouldn't ask our guy, because he was at a window and he probobly purchased the window. When the man saw a crying J he willingly gave up his seat so Hubby could be with us. I did not feel badly in the least as J cried for the first 20 minutes (Hubby wouldn't give up his window seat) and the other man slept the entire 4.5 hours.

So airplanes aside. San Diego is beautiful, gorgeous, clean, attractive, everything you want in a visiting city. Everything I dreamed of when I dreamed of visiting California. J called the palm trees "Chocolate Trees" ala Dora for the first two days and then he realized they were palm trees. And he loved them so much.

Hubby had a work aquaintance in San Diego, so this kind Gentleman and his Wife took us on a 7 hour tour of San Diego and a deliciously wonderful brunch of seafood. We started at Loma Point, to see an old Lighthouse, right up J's alley. We could see blue water as far as the eye could see, and a gorgeous view of San Diego. Then, hungry that we were we went for brunch. Then, we headed north along the coastal highway to see all the beaches, Mission, Pacific, Torrey Pines (stopped in at the golf course, just to say we did), La Jolla, and Del Mar. We headed back to the downtown to stop and look at the Star of India (tall ship), went on a tour of the ship used in Master and Commander, and toured a Former Russian Submarine. His friends called it the "nickel" tour, we called it the million dollar tour.

That was Sunday.

Monday, I went shopping in a cool, funky, outdoor type mall. It was like our indoor malls, but with no roof. And it had all my favorite stores that we don't have here. I had already spent a small fortune on our last vacation, so I picked up a t-shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch and some stuff at Bath and Body Works oh yes, and I cannot forget my two new bras from Victoria's Secret. Monday afternoon was spent with a friend of whom I have known for at least two or three years, but never met. She joined me with her two beautiful girls at the Beach. J loved playing with her beauties and the five of us chatted and soaked in some sun. It was fantastic and great and I could not think of a better way to spend a day on a beach in California.

Tuesday my same friend took us to the San Diego Zoo. The one thing I promised J was that we would go to the zoo. The kids did great. Walking for about 2.5 hours before we stopped for lunch. Then we went on a bus tour so we could see some of the animals we missed. Definately could have gone back for another day so J could see everything. She was the perfect hostess and her beautiful girls were so welcoming to J, we just had the best time. Tuesday night, Hubby, J and I went to Old Town for some real Mexican supper, and a walk through the old buildings.

I have to admit that if it were not for my girlfriend, I would have probobly found an excuse to stay at the hotel and sit by the pool with J all day. The highways were kinda scarey. Not once you knew where you were going and stuff, but when you had no idea, yikes. Five lanes merging and nobody signalling, in a rental car with a mirror stuck in the middle of the windshield was enough to make me want to cry. Add to that the fact that it was an automatic with no guts, ack.

Wednesday Hubby took the morning off so he could see the beach, but it was cloudy until we got back to the hotel, so we went for a swim before heading downtown to his conference. J and I walked around all afternoon, checking out the downtown core and the Gaslamp District. When Hubby was done we went to the Seaport Village and walked around some more. J and I got lots of sun and loved every minute of our trip. I only wish we had just had a bit more time to show hubby all the wonderful stuff we got to see too. But, there will have to be a next time, so we can drive up the coast to some wine country ;).

Then we flew home and have missed the beach ever since.

"A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words"

Here's a couple thousand words for you... I don't think I could tell the tale of our trip any better.